Planned in Advance
by TalysAlankil
Summary: Nico finds out that Bianca made a deal for his sake. Will witnesses the falling out. - Written based on the prompt "Nico finds his old childhood home, and finds old pictures in the attic (Will is there, but they aren't dating yet.)"


The news came completely unexpected to Nico. When he turned eighteen—he hadn't even been sure his birthday still meant anything after his time at the Lotus, but apparently, it did—Alecto came to him, just as she had as a child, disguised as a lawyer. He'd almost attacked her at first, until she raised her hands to appease him.

"Your father sends me with…peculiar news," she said. "Your sister made a deal nobody knew about with Artemis when she joined the Hunters."

The mention of Bianca, after so many years, felt like a punch to the gut—nothing to make Nico want to talk to the Fury any more than he did. "A deal?"

Alecto nodded. "The goddess registered legal documents with mortals, to establish your identity to their eyes. It was only brought to our attention now that you reached majority, though."

Nico frowned. "What—what does that mean?"

"To mortals, it was like you were just a mortal boy born eighteen years ago. You have a dual American and Italian citizenship, and you are the sole heir to your mother's estate."

"Her heir…" Nico felt dazed by how this was possible at all—even after years of being in this world, the Mist was difficult to figure out. "Is there even anything left?"

"Just one thing. A house in Florence." She held out a sheet of paper, which Nico took reflexively, though he couldn't bring himself to read. "Does that ring any bells?"

It was obvious enough, actually. "Yes. Yes, I know what it is." He didn't elaborate—this wasn't something he wanted to talk about with Alecto.

"Well—" she held out more papers, "here's everything you need. Birth certificate, identification papers—well, you can figure it out. My work here is done."

* * *

"I heard you were taking a trip to Italy."

Nico jolted in surprise at the sound of Will's voice. He'd been about to shadow-travel out of camp when Will had called him out. "Who told you?"

"Chiron. I'm pretty sure you know that, though, since no one else seems to know." Will's tone was loaded with disapproval. "What's going on? Why would you go to the old lands _alone_ and without even telling anyone?" His eyes flitted to Nico's backpack. "Were you going to _shadow-travel_ there, too? Are you _serious_? Don't you remember what happened the last time you tried traveling on such a distance?"

Nico scoffed. "It's been four years, Will. I got better at it. I can take it. Besides, I'm not dragging a giant statue."

Will stared at him for a moment, an annoyed pout on his lips. "I'm not going to convince you, am I?"

"Well, 'doctor's orders' isn't going to cut it anymore, if that's what you're wondering."

"Wouldn't dream of it," Will said. Then, surprisingly, he took a step forward and held out his hand. "Okay. Then I'm coming with you."

Nico glanced at his hand, and couldn't help but smile at the ridiculous gesture. "Will—"

"I'm serious. Even if you can take the shadow-travel, you'll be in the old lands, surrounded by monsters, and tired. You shouldn't be alone."

"And _you're_ going to defend me?"

Will shrugged. "Why not? That way, we'll see if your training bore any fruits."

Nico chuckled: they both knew that Will was still far from able to take on a monster on his own, even if he'd made slow progress—especially over the past year. But Nico was touched by the gesture, especially since Will had no idea what he was signing up _for_. And maybe Will's smile was getting through to Nico a little more than he wanted to admit.

"All right. You asked for it." He clasped a hand on Will's, and they faded into the shadows.

* * *

It took them a moment to get their bearings in Florence—mostly because had aimed for the Ponte Vecchio, an easy landmark to aim at even after Nico hadn't been _in_ Florence since his childhood in the thirties, but he'd forgotten to take Will's presence in account. He'd misaimed just a little, and while Will landed on the bridge, Nico fell straight into the Arno. With the exhaustion of shadow-traveling, he could barely keep himself afloat, and Will had to get him out of the water before they started searching the city for the address on Alecto's paperwork. The streets weren't familiar to Nico anymore, but he still remembered the city enough to find the house easily.

The building had barely changed, but Nico still felt a surge of uncertainty when he reached it. Alecto had given Nico everything he needed, thankfully—keys, title of ownership, and everything was already cleared with the Italian authorities. All he had to do was walk up to the front door and go inside.

Will noticed his hesitation, and followed Nico's glance towards the house, then looked back at Nico, frowning. "Is everything all right?"

Nico took a deep breath, trying to clear his mind. "Yeah. Come on."

The first thing that struck Nico was the heavy smell of dust, which covered everything he laid his eyes on. From what he'd gathered, his mother had taken all the dispositions to have the house passed to her children after she died, and had hired someone to take care of the house in the meantime. But that was eighty years ago, and the money for that had run out long ago.

But everything was as Nico remembered it—under the dust, it looked faded, almost like Nico had walked into a photograph from his own childhood.

"What is this place?"

Will's voice startled Nico—for a moment, he'd forgotten about him. "My childhood home."

Without waiting for Will's reply, Nico headed further inside, up a flight a flight of stairs, then another. Familiar sights assaulted him at every step, each a reminder of everything he'd had—and everything he'd lost—but he powered through.

Until he reached the bedroom he shared with Bianca.

It felt weird to see the beds—tiny, children's beds—made with an almost professional care. Neither of them had ever been this neat. But everything else was just as he remembered. The pile of picture books Bianca used to read him after she'd just learned how to read, and next to it, a few storybooks they would read each other at night, thrilled with excitement at the thought that they were up past bedtime without their mother knowing. The desk they'd barely ever done any homework on, having moved to the States before schoolwork was an actual _thing_ in their curriculum.

The toy chest in a corner was still open, and half-empty. Nico couldn't manage to remember if they had left it like this, or if someone had taken some of them—maybe they'd become valuable with the passage of time.

Still, at the bottom of the chest remained a tangle of dolls and toy soldiers—all Bianca's—and even beneath it…

Nico knew he was going to break down the moment his fingers found the Mythomagic figurine—Artemis, one he thought he'd lost in the Lotus or broken in his anger after Bianca's death. Tears streamed down his face, out of control, and he sank to his knees, breaking into full sobs.

He felt Will's hand on his shoulder, a feather touch—just enough to let Nico know he was there. Nico felt almost ashamed that Will was seeing him like this; and yet, the moment Will threatened to step back, Nico placed a hand on Will's. Will started at the contact, then, slowly, he knelt beside Nico, and wrapped an arm around Nico's shoulders.

Nico had no idea how he ended up in Will's arms, crying on his shoulder as they were still kneeling on the dusty floor. All he knew was that suddenly he was out of tears, feeling a strange combination of emptiness and relief—and a hint of embarrassment, too. Yet he didn't feel like pulling away just yet.

Will was the one who broke the silence. "You wanna talk about it?" His voice was quiet, barely above a whisper.

"No. Yes. I don't know." Nico sighed. "My mother wanted us to have this house, and Bianca made sure I'd get it, in spite of…everything. And I never even thought about it before. It's like I'd forgotten about them."

"If you'd forgotten, I don't think a single figurine would have brought you to tears," Will said gently. He was still holding Nico close, almost tightly enough to hurt Nico—but Nico didn't mind.

Nico rested his head against Will's chest, the sound of Will's heartbeat strangely comforting—and a little too fast to be healthy. "Are _you_ okay?"

"Yeah. Why do you ask?" Will chuckled, but it sounded more nervous than anything else. "So what are you going to do with the place?"

"I don't know. I doubt I could _live_ here, but I could maybe come here every so often. And it's nice knowing I have a home somewhere. One that's mine, I mean. Not like I don't feel at home at Camp Half-Blood, but I'm getting a little old to stay there all year."

"You know nobody minds you being there. _I_ don't mind."

Nico couldn't help but smile. "You're older than me, you idiot. _Of course_ you don't mind."

"Camp's still my home."

"You could come by here, if you want." The thought came unbidden, and Nico only realized what he'd said after he'd said it. "I mean—there's plenty of room."

Will didn't seem bothered. "I'd love that. So you'll want to make this house livable, I assume? I could help you with that."

Nico finally pulled away—only to stare into Will's eyes. He wasn't kidding, surprisingly. "Let's get started, then."


End file.
